National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss has opened up on how his fight against the use of harmful pesticides in the country has led to her receiving death threats.
The Uasin Gishu woman representative said companies manufacturing the harmful pesticides have threatened her following his petition for the removal of the use of their products.
According to the legislator, most of the harmful products used in Kenya are banned in the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), where they are manufactured.
Are harmful pesticides the cause of high cancer cases in Kenya?
She linked the pesticides to high cancer cases in the country.
“I have been championing against harmful pesticides that we are using in our farms, and which are causing cancer. They have been banned in the US and UK. The companies manufacture them, but they are not used there; they come to Kenya,” the legislator said.
“I brought a petition in Parliament and instructed the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) to ban the agro-chemicals, but that has not been done. I have received death threats, but we must refuse to have those products,” she added.
The Deputy Speaker gave an example of high cancer cases in Kirinyaga, a county she noted has the highest use of harmful pesticides.
She said aside from the government investing heavily in the health sector, the is also a need for focus to be on prevention.
“There is no point in building hospitals, yet we are making our people get cancer,” she said.
How many harmful pesticides are used in Kenya?
Previously, Gladys Boss had said there are over 260 harmful chemicals approved for use in the country.
She has been leading a campaign that seeks to ban all the listed chemicals linked to cancer.
Cancer is the third leading cause of death in Kenya, following infectious and cardiovascular diseases.
2022 GLOBOCAN estimates indicate that Kenya recorded 44,726 new cancer cases annually, with 29,317 deaths and 102,152 five-year prevalent cases.
The incidence and mortality rates are projected to rise significantly, with the number of new cases expected to increase by over 120% in the next two decades.
